During the COVID-19 pandemic, the unexpected lockdown of schools brought many challenges to redesigning the teaching and learning of chemistry at the secondary schooling level. The demand for online teaching under COVID-19 conditions was, however, also an opportunity to reflect on introducing new content, pedagogies, and media. This paper reflects on the implementation of a chemistry lesson plan focusing on the socio-scientific issue of ethanol used for hand sanitizers in Italy. Ethanol is possibly the most common ingredient of hand sanitizer lotions and provides an authentic context for the learning of and about chemistry. The objective was to promote students’ awareness of the deep interconnections between science, society, ethics, and the environment through a socio-scientific issues-based approach.